Shop With An Eagle’ Program Brings Christmas To Families

Monday

Worried about her decreased income and mounting bills, Emily Orsbun stood frozen behind her shopping basket for several seconds recently in a Fort Smith store.

Worried about her decreased income and mounting bills, Emily Orsbun stood frozen behind her shopping basket for several seconds recently in a Fort Smith store.

Then, as if her self-confidence went from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, Orsbun smiled, tightened her grip on the cart’s handle and started to push the cart down the large store’s crowded aisles. The Fort Smith resident’s actions revealed she was feeling the spirit of Christmas.

"This is really helping me," Orsbun said. "This is the first time I’ve received help from a program like this, and it’s really good. It is helping."

Orsbun and her family were selected as one of several local families to receive financial help via the Fort Smith Fraternal Order of Eagles Auxiliary. This help comes from the organization’s new "Shop with an Eagle" program, which, like "Shop with a Cop," allows the selected people to purchase toys and supplies for their children.

"This program is another way we can give back to our community, and make sure we are helping people who are local," said Diane Moore, auxiliary president and Shop with an Eagle founder. "Last year, we gave $400 to the Angel Tree program, and this year, we have $1,000 that we are giving to the families of eight area children who need help."

Orsbun and other participating parents were joined by Moore and other group members during the shopping excursion. Orsbun quickly glanced at a display stand of "Despicable Me 2" DVDs before turning her attention to stuffed animals.

"Before this, I didn’t know if I would be able to get Christmas presents for my children," said Orsbun, who has two young children. "(Shop with an Eagle) is letting me give my children Christmas."

Some of the children selected suffer health-related issues, while one 10-year-old boy is terminally ill, Moore said.

"It’s really sad, these situations, and it’s not fair," she said. "That one little boy, this will be his last Christmas."

Moore paused for a few seconds to compose her thoughts.

"I have two children myself, and I know how hard it can be to raise kids," she said. "I myself can’t physically help people in need, but with Shop with an Eagle, people in our community can get help."

Fort Smith resident Della Jones called Shop with an Eagle "a great gift and a great blessing," adding she felt a financial burden lifted from her shoulder.

"This program is wonderful because it is helping kids who would otherwise not have Christmas," she said. "It’s helped us, because our 7-month-old child has been going to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for the last month and a half.

"He has had trouble with a soft spot on his head, so the surgeries and travel have been a real expense," Jones added. "All of the money we would normally have for Christmas gifts has been spent on surgeries and traveling."

Jones said she hoped Shop with an Eagle would allow her to purchase diapers, clothes "and maybe a few toys." Like Orsbun, Jones was smiling during the shopping session.

"It’s great to see their faces and their reactions," Moore said. "Helping them makes me feel good, and besides, helping others is what we’re supposed to do."

Sean Payne and his wife, Brandalyon Prather, also participated in the shopping session, which allowed them to purchase Christmas gifts for their 4-year-old son. Diagnosed with neuroblastoma, an extra-cranial solid cancer in children, the couple’s child has made 11 trips to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock in the last two months.

"We normally don’t participate in programs like this, but our child has had to have blood transfusions," Prather said. "Thankfully, we’ve been blessed that his blood and everything are good at this time, so that’s great. We’re thankful for that and for Shop with an Eagle."

Payne agreed.

"We weren’t rich before by no means, but the hospital trips have been difficult," he said. "We didn’t have a clue what we were going to get the kids for Christmas, but now, this program helps a lot."

Moore said $400 of the $1,000 came from donations from the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie, which is comprised of the organization’s male members. Auxiliary members were able to collect $400, while a $200 donation came from the Eagle Riders; the latter is a motorcycle group associated with the Eagles Aerie, she said.

"We are so excited at the Eagles Auxiliary to be able to do this, and we’ve been working with the Community Action Center on getting names of children who need our help," Moore said. "We definitely are going to make this an annual thing. Who knows? This year we are helping eight children, so maybe next year, we can help 16 children who need our help."

For information, call 452-5888 or (479) 353-3837 or email dianemoore001@yahoo.com.

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